Ex-Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe Arrested Over Alleged Fund Misuse

Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka's former President, has been arrested for alleged misuse of government funds. Wickremesinghe was taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Friday for misusing state funds for a private overseas trip when he was President.

Wickremesinghe, 76, has been accused of using public funds to travel to England to attend a convocation ceremony of his wife, Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe, at a British university in September 2023, police said.

"We are producing him before the Colombo Fort magistrate," the officer told news agency AFP, adding that they were pressing charges for using state resources for personal purposes.

The police had previously questioned his staff about the travel expenses.

Case Against Wickremesinghe

Wickremesinghe had stopped in London in 2023 on his way back from Havana, where he attended a G77 summit. In the UK capital, he and his wife attended a University of Wolverhampton ceremony.

Wickremesinghe had maintained that his wife's travel expenses were met by her and that no state funds were used.

However, the CID has alleged that Wickremesinghe used government money for his travel on a private visit and that his bodyguards were also paid by the state.

Who Is Ranil Wickremesinghe

Wickremesinghe became president in July 2022 for the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa's term, after Rajapaksa stepped down following months of protests over alleged corruption and mismanagement.

He is credited with stabilising the economy after the country's worst-ever financial meltdown in 2022. Wickremesinghe lost his re-election bid in September.